I’m combing through boxes and came across a lot of old writing- some scribbled onto napkins and paper towels, some cursive on lined paper/backs of receipts, some typed and printed,
This gem stood out. Call me Cassandra.
“I wonder what will be born from a society that’s obsessed with commentary (ironic pause). It used to be some what of a goal to escape judgment or commentary, to breeze by without anybody noticing or commenting on our existence. We now thrive on comments. I can’t log onto MySpace (2021 addition: LOLOLOLOLOLOL) without finding at least one friend fishing for comment s (new pics! Please comment!) and I have to admit, my heart sings a little when I see someone has stopped by to comment on me.”
Okay, (2021 voice), this is too much. Fifteen years later comment culture has eaten us alive. We developed an entire vocabulary around thirsty behavior. Then 2020 moved our entire lives online and y’all don’t need my thoughts on that because you lived it too. But wow, early-2000-self, you saw it coming.
“But what will come from this self-obsessed falsely inflated sense of importance? We’ve seen cell phones separate and alienate people (2021 addition: and connect and amplify historically silenced and excluded voices), and with iPods and DVD players in the car, a family can go on a long trip without having to acknowledge each other’s presence at all.
“It frightens me, to say the least.
“We inhabit a world where you have a million friends but nobody to talk to. Where if nobody saw it, it didn’t happen. And if nobody snapped a picture of it, it doesn’t matter.
“And religion, which used to be a place for sanctuary and acceptance (and also torture, war, and the like) has turned into another petty political machine.”
So, yeah, I guess I’ve always been like this. I just used to express it privately and now we live in a broadcast culture. So… here you have it.
Be gentle with yourself and each other today. Humaning is hard. Xox
Pretty Good Ugly 